


Summer Camp

by blurryfics



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Cabins, Camp Games, Camp Songs, F/M, Forests, Lakes, Stargazing, Summer Camp, Teams, camp counselors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-04-08 10:07:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19104955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blurryfics/pseuds/blurryfics
Summary: You're a camp counselor at a local children's summer camp with three of your best friends. With only one year left until you leave for college, you're determined to make this year's camp the best one yet.





	1. Before You Read!

  * Below is a list of some thing that I felt all of you should know before beginning to read Summer Camp! It’s now anything super dramatic, but still a few points that are good to have in mind :)

    * This series uses she/her pronouns for the reader!
    * This is a series where you are able to choose your own pairing. At any given moment, it may seem like you are being made to choose a certain boy, but this isn’t the case! It will make sense by the end.
    * Choose a camp name before you read! This is used heavily throughout the series and is good to choose before you start!




	2. Sunday

“Y/N!”

You spun around at the sound of the familiar voice. A few feet away, Tyler Joseph was stepping off of another bright yellow bus, not unlike the one that you had just grabbed all your stuff from. He held his arms out and you went running over to hug him.

“How have you been?” he asked as he squeezed you tightly.

You stepped away and grabbed your suitcase again, “I’ve been alright, what about you?”

“Great. Really great.”

“Hey, where’s Josh?”

As if he had heard your question, Josh Dun came stepping off the bus carrying his own collection of bags. Upon seeing you, he dropped them and opened his arms for a hug as well.

“Y/N!” he cheered. “Long time, no see.”

“Only about a year,” you laughed as you pulled away.

“That’s a long time.”

The three of you grabbed your things and started down the hill that led to the camp together. It felt nice to be out in the forest again, enjoying the fresh air and summer breeze. Being a camp counselor for a week during the summer was something that you looked forward to every year.

“Are you guys excited to meet the kids tomorrow?” you asked.

“Are you kidding?” Tyler answered. “That’s like my favorite part.”

“Have you thought about what camp name you’re going to use this year?” Josh chimed in.

“I think I’m going to stick with Y/C/N,” you answered. “It’s been my name for five years, so why change it now?”

“Yeah, I think I’m going to stick with DJ Spooky,” he laughed.

“DJ Spooky,” you repeated. “I don’t know that I’ll ever get used to that.”

“What about you, Tyler?”

“Vulture,” he answered plainly.

You nodded. It seemed a bit dark for a camp name, but you didn’t question it. Ahead of you, the camp was just beginning to come into view. Your eyes landed on a familiar blonde figure standing at the bottom of the hill, surrounded by a couple bags.

“Jen!” you called loudly.

She spun around at the sound of your voice and held her arms out to you. You crashed into her, nearly knocking her to the ground with all the momentum you had gained from your downhill run. She laughed as the two of you spun around, holding tightly onto one another.

“How are you?” she asked, holding you at arm’s length.

“Great,” you grinned. “So happy to be back.”

“Are you ready to have the most kickass cabin this year?”

“You know it.”

You and Jenna had been cabin-buddies since you both attended the camp as kids. When you both became old enough to be counselors, there was no question that you two would be partners. Even as teenagers, the two of you were inseparable.

“Hey!” Jenna called to Josh and Tyler, who were about halfway down the hill now. They each waved down to the two of you.

“This is going to be the best year yet, I can feel it,” you smiled.

Jenna leaned a little closer to you, “Are you going to finally admit your camp crush this year?”

“No, shh!” you said, swatting at her arm. “He might hear you!”

Every year, the counselors had a tradition of admitting their camp crushes to one another before everyone got on the buses back home. Despite the fact that you had been crushing on the same fellow counselor for almost three straight years now, you had never built up the courage to participate with everyone else.

“It was an innocent question!”

“Maybe,” you said, already feeling your cheeks get warm. “I mean, we’re going off to college next year, so I might as well, right?”

“Exactly.” Jenna elbowed you in the ribs, but your attention was drawn away by Tyler and Josh.

“What cabin are you guys in?” Tyler asked.

“Five,” Jenna answered, looking down at a piece of paper that she had no doubt been given by one of the supervisors.

“Isn’t that the nice one?” you asked.

“Yeah, I may have done a bit of persuading,” she giggled.

“What about you guys?”

“Not sure yet,” Tyler answered. “We should probably go find the camp supervisor, Josh.”

“Agreed. I need to meet up with Brad and figure out what we’re doing.”

“See you guys at dinner?” Tyler asked, pointing to you.

“Definitely,” you grinned.

The two of them waved and walked off with their stuff. Meanwhile, you and Jenna headed across the camp towards your cabin.

“It smells so nice out here,” Jenna commented. “I wish the camp was longer than a week.”

“At least we get the added bonus of today without the kids!”

“Yeah, but that’s spent setting up.”

“Speaking of setting up, what activity are we in charge of this year?” you asked.

“Arts and crafts.”

“Really? I haven’t been in charge of that one before.”

“Prepare to be covered in paint by the end of the day,” Jenna laughed.

“You know, I don’t think I’ll mind.”

Jenna pulled out the cabin key as the two of you neared the little wooden building. The door took a bit of work to get open, but with a bit of teamwork you managed to get inside. The decorations were simple, mostly just bunk beds with a small sitting area, but there was a little bathroom which was a nice added bonus. There was nothing worse than trying to find your way across camp in the middle of the night.

“This is nice,” Jenna said as she set her stuff down next to one of the bunks. “Better than last year, that’s for sure.”

“Definitely. My legs were covered in mosquito bites by the end of that week.”

“Oh, right! I had totally forgotten about that.”

“What beds do you think we should take?”

“I was thinking these two. They’re by the door and low to the ground, in case one of the kids needs us in the middle of the night.”

“Good call.”

You threw your stuff onto one of the lower bunks and took a moment to sit down and rest your legs. The rest of your day would be spent carrying equipment all over the place and getting everything ready for the kids’ arrival tomorrow, so you would take any moment of peace that you could get.

“Alright, what do you say we get out there and see what they need help with?” Jenna asked.

You sighed and stood back up, “Let’s do this.”

 

By the time that you and Jenna arrived to the cafeteria for dinner, your hair was plastered to your forehead with sweat and you felt like you might collapse at any moment. You piled your tray high with food and waited for Jenna to finish doing the same.

“Where should we sit?” she asked, looking out over the sea of counselors sitting at tables.

You took a moment to scan everyone, “Wait, there’s the boys.”

Jenna bumped your arm with her elbow as you two walked towards them. You simply shot her a look as a silent way of telling her not to say a word about your feelings. 

“My lips are sealed,” she whispered.

“Hey!” Josh smiled as the two of you sat down across from them. “I haven’t seen you two all day.”

“That’s how the first day of camp goes,” you laughed as you took a seat next to Tyler. “All work, no play.”

“At least the rest of the week is basically goofing off,” Jenna chimed in.

You took a long sip of water to alleviate your dry throat. It was nice to finally sit down and rest your legs, even though there was still more to be done after dinner.

“So,” Josh began. “I have to ask…”

“Don’t tell me we’re talking about college already,” you sighed.

“I just want to know what your plans are!”

“I’m starting culinary school in the fall,” Jenna answered. “Figured I might as well make a career out of what I already love doing.”

Tyler and Josh nodded thoughtfully for a moment before turning to you.

“What about you, Y/N?”

“Just community college,” you shrugged. “I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do.”

“What about you two?”

“We’re just going to focus on music and hope it goes somewhere,” Tyler laughed.

“Are you working on an album?” you asked.

“Yeah, we have something in the works,” Josh smiled.

“Any more details?”

“Nope, that’s all you get.”

You laughed and tossed a fry at Josh. It hit him in the nose and fell onto his tray, but he still picked it up and ate it.

“Let me know when I can actually hear it,” you said.

“Will do,” Tyler answered.

You sighed and took a bite of your food. 

“Jenna, I never asked, what’s your camp name this year?” Josh asked.

“Still going with Daisy,” she answered before taking a sip of water.

“Daisy, DJ Spooky, Y/C/N, and Vulture. The ultimate team,” Tyler said.

“Speaking of teams, why aren’t you two running the same cabin?” you asked.

Josh and Tyler shared a look before Josh spoke, “You can’t compete if you’re on the same team.”

Jenna shook her head and laughed, “I can’t believe you two.”

“We’re competitive people, what can we say?”

There was a pause as the four of you sipped on your drinks or took a bite of food. The conversations at other tables created a nice hum of noise to keep the silence from feeling too awkward.

“I can’t believe this might be the last year we’re counselors,” Jenna said.

“It’s just an excuse to make this the best year yet, right?” Josh added.

“I guess so.”

“And our cabin is going to dominate at the end-of-week capture the flag match,” Tyler chimed in.

“In your dreams, Joseph!” you said.

He turned to you and raised an eyebrow, but you simply narrowed your eyes in challenge. It only took a few seconds of eye contact for him to break and smile.

One of the supervisors walked over and placed a hand on your table, “Hey, y’all. Ten more minutes of dinner and then we have to get moving. There’s still a lot to do and not much daylight left.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” Josh said.

The supervisor nodded at him before walking off to the next table. Ten minutes wasn’t much time to finish your dinner and have a nice conversation with the boys and Jenna.

Dinner eventually ended and the four of you started to walk out of the cafeteria after dropping your dishes off. Just as you and Jenna were about to walk off in your own direction, one of the boys caught your eye. He smiled at you and gave you a little wave before turning and falling into step with his friend. Your stomach filled with butterflies and it was hard to keep the smile off your face.

Maybe they were right, this summer could be the best one yet.


	3. Monday

Your ears were filled with the ringing of Jenna’s alarm. You slowly sat up and stretched your arms out behind you, releasing some of the tension that had built up after sleeping on the stiff mattress.

“Good morning,” Jenna smiled.

She reached up and brushed her messy hair back from her face. You swiveled your body and rested your feet on the cold wooden floor of the cabin, wincing a bit as you did so.

“We’re supposed to be down at the cafeteria in twenty minutes.”

“Ok, I’ll get ready.”

You pulled on your camp t-shirt, a pair of shorts that were already covered in dirt, and some sneakers that had become your iconic camp shoes. Jenna was nice enough to help you out with your hair, making sure that it was done in such a way that it wouldn’t be constantly falling in your face during activities.

“I can’t wait to meet all the girls today,” Jenna smiled. “They’re always so sweet.”

“That reminds me, I need my name tag.”

You walked over to your bag and dug around until you found the small wooden name tag. It was covered in beads and stickers from previous years; to be honest, you were surprised that you had managed to keep track of it over the years. It had quickly become one of your most prized possessions.

“Y/C/N,” Jenna read. “I have to remember to call you that from now on.”

“And I have to call you Daisy.”

“Only when the kids are around,” she laughed.

She pulled on her name tag, which was covered in its own variety of beads and stickers. You packed up your day bag while Jenna fixed her own hair, making sure that you had a couple snacks and anything else that you might need while you were out. The first day was always the busiest and trying to keep track of twenty excited eight- to ten-year-olds never made it any easier.

“Ready to go?” Jenna asked.

You grabbed your bag and pulled it on over your shoulders, “Let’s do this.”

Jenna grabbed the cabin keys and the two of you walked out into the morning air. The sun had still yet to come up, but the clouds were just beginning to become covered in bits of pink and orange. You could just barely hear a few other counselors exiting their own cabins.

Josh and Tyler were already sitting at a table with Brad and Mark. All four of them looked exhausted, but still managed to smile as you and Jenna took a seat across from them with your bowls of cereal.

“Today is the big day,” Tyler muttered.

“Are you four feeling alright?”

“We stayed up until two in the morning messing around,” Brad explained. “Josh wouldn’t let me into the cabin before then.”

Josh pursed his lips and stirred his cereal around, “There was stuff to explore!”

“And now we only got three hours of sleep because of it!”

“How did you two sleep?” Tyler asked, temporarily putting an end to the debate.

“Pretty good,” Jenna nodded. “It’s a lot quieter out here than it is at home.”

“Agreed, although the mattress isn’t the most comfortable thing in the world.”

“It will be after you’ve been chasing sugar-fueled children around the forest all day,” Mark chimed in.

Josh nodded, “He has a point.”

“Hey, y’all! I need your attention!” one of the camp supervisors called.

The next hour was spent finishing up your breakfast and listening to the supervisors go over the camp rules. It was all information you had heard before, but there was no getting out of going over it. Josh and Tyler passed the time by making snarky comments and thinking of loopholes to the rules, which never failed to make the rest of you laugh.

“Alright, the kids will be getting here in half an hour. Finish up whatever you need to do and be at the top of the hill by then to welcome them! And remember, there are to be absolutely no romantic relationships this week! Keep your pants on.”

“Aye, aye, captain!” Josh yelled, gaining an eye roll from the supervisor.

“Y/N - I mean, Y/C/N, we should go grab our bandanas from the cabin,” Jenna said.

“Agreed, let’s go do that.”

Each year, the cabins were assigned a color for their “team” and got to pick a mascot to represent them throughout the week. Your color this year was yellow, and you and Jenna had decided to go with a cheetah as your mascot. 

“Here you are,” Jenna said, passing you a yellow bandana.

You took the bandana and wrapped it around your bicep, figuring that would be the best tactic for keeping it out of your way. Jenna, on the other hand, opted to put it in her hair. It looked nice paired with her braids and blonde hair.

“What else do we need to do?” you asked.

“Well, all the beds are made, our station is set up, and we didn’t get stuck with doing a performance at the bonfire tonight, so I think we’re good to go!”

“Sweet, let’s go wait at the top of the hill then.”

You and Jenna found a nice spot to sit under a tree. Thankfully it wasn’t too warm yet since the sun had barely come up, but you knew that would quickly change as the day went on.

“I’m so excited,” you grinned, happily tapping your fingers against your knees. “This is always my favorite part of the week.”

“Mine too! I love seeing the kids’ faces when they hear that they’re in our cabin.”

“Hopefully they like the mascot we chose.”

“I’m sure they will, kids love cheetahs, right?”

“Definitely,” you smiled. “Hey, do you have our schedule for the week?”

“Yeah, it’s in my folder. One second.”

You watched as Jenna pulled out a bright blue folder covered in stickers. Inside was all the notes that you would need, including the schedule for each day’s activities. She carefully pulled it out and handed it to you.

“Arts and crafts tomorrow, nature walk on Wednesday, music on Thursday, and capture the flag and the bonfire on Friday. Seems like a pretty good schedule, if you ask me.”

“Definitely,” she smiled, taking the schedule back and placing it neatly inside the folder.

You were glad that Jenna was so organized. If it wasn’t for her, you weren’t so sure that you would know what you were doing half the time.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Y/N and Jenna,” Tyler said as he walked over to where the two of you were sitting. He was now wearing a bright red bandana around his bicep, just above the tattoo he had gotten the month before. Josh, Mark, and Brad were all trailing behind him, having their own conversation.

“That’s Y/C/N and Daisy to you,” you said, flashing your name tag at him.

“Right, sorry.”

“Come on, Vulture!” Jenna teased.

Tyler threw his hands up in defeat, “Hey, it’s day one! Give me a break.”

The rest of the counselors began to file in, paired up with their cabin partners. Everyone seemed to be getting along, which was a welcome change from last year. The supervisors had been afraid that there would be a physical fight by the end of the week, but they managed to avoid it. Those counselors hadn’t been invited back this year.

“The kids should be arriving any minute,” Josh said.

“Help me up, would you?” you asked, holding a hand out to him.

Josh grabbed your hand and pulled you up to a standing position. You dusted the dirt off your shorts and adjusted your backpack on your shoulders before helping Jenna stand up.

“Hey, y’all! Gather over here! Stand with your cabin partners!”

Jenna grabbed your hand and led you over to where all the counselors were supposed to gather. Tyler and Mark were standing next to you, and Josh and Brad were on the other side of them. Tyler reached over and bumped you with his elbow.

“Excited?”

“That obvious?” you giggled.

“Little bit.”

All of the counselors began to cheer as the buses rounded the corner and came into view. They slowly pulled up, kicking up lots of dust. Excited kids were peering through the windows. Those who recognized you from past years were waving excitedly.

The kids slowly filed off the bus and lined up outside of it, holding onto their backpacks tightly. The supervisors were having troubles keeping all of them in a single place, since many of them were trying to run towards their favorite counselor. One little girl that you recognized from the year before kept waving and giggling at you. Poppy, that was her name.

“Alright, y’all, who’s ready for your cabin assignments?”

The kids immediately started to scream, causing Jenna to jump and grab your arm. You laughed and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. Next to you, Tyler was yelling and just generally making the kids rowdier.

You and Jenna stood patiently, waiting for the moment that you would be grouped up with your twenty kids.

“Alright, yellow cabin!”

Jenna linked her arm with yours and turned to you excitedly. You both listened as the names were read out, and the girls came and gathered around you. They all seemed happy, if not a bit shy, as you handed them their bandanas. Jenna helped most of them to put them in their hair, meanwhile you helped all the little girls who wanted them around their arms or wrists.

“Y/C/N!” Poppy called, running over to you and colliding with you in some form of hug.

“Hi, Poppy!” you grinned, giving her a hug.

“I’m so excited to be in your cabin again!”

“I’m excited too! Here, take your bandana.”

As soon as all the cabins were assigned, you led your group to your cabin. A few of the bolder girls grabbed onto your and Jenna’s hands as you walked, bouncing excitedly along the grass. There was still a lot to be done - going over rules, making a buddy system, and assigning bunks, to name a few - but you were looking forward to every minute of it.

 

“Come on, yellow cabin!” you announced. “Find your buddies!”

All the girls looked around frantically until their hands were linked with their assigned buddy. You took the hand of the nearest girl and began to lead all of them out of the cafeteria. Next to you, Jenna had taken the hands of a couple of the other girls. She smiled at you when she noticed you looking.

“I would say this is going well so far.”

“It’s only day one,” you laughed. “There’s plenty of time for something to go wrong.”

“Shh, don’t jinx it!”

Up ahead, you could see Josh running with one of the boys from his cabin on his shoulders. His hair was pushed back with a pale blue bandana, which proved to be a nice contrast to his dark hair. He stopped running when he noticed your cabin getting closer.

“Hey, Y/C/N!” he called.

“Hi, DJ Spooky.”

“Sing it, Spooky!” the kid on his shoulder yelled.

Josh shook his head and set the kid down before jogging over to join you for a moment. Brad shot him a look, but Josh wasn’t paying enough attention to notice.

“How’s the first day going?”

“Better than expected. How’s your day been?”

“Great,” he smiled. “I love these kids. They’re hilarious.”

“DJ Spooky!” one of them called.

“That’s my cue,” he laughed. “I’ll see you later, though?”

“For sure.”

He turned and ran back to his group, immediately scooping up another one of the kids and throwing them over his shoulder.

“Do you like DJ Spooky?” a young voice asked.

You looked down towards the little girl that had asked, “Huh?”

“I said do you like DJ Spooky? It kinda seems like he likes you.”

“No, we’re just friends,” you answered with a smile, knowing that any other answer would cause trouble.

“Oh, ok.”

You and Jenna led the girls to your assigned spot in the amphitheater. A few of the girls fought over who got the honor of sitting next to the two of you, but you managed to alleviate the conflict by saying they would get a chance to sit next to you at breakfast the next morning. They seemed happy enough with that answer.

The first part of the ceremony was just full of the supervisors going over rules and schedules. They eventually made their way off the stage and gave the counselors their opportunity to perform. Josh and Tyler were one of the last ones to take the stage.

“Alright, I know most of you are tired and want to head to bed, but we have just a quick song for all of you,” Tyler said as he messed with his ukulele. Josh was sitting on top of a box that would serve as his makeshift drum set. “Feel free to sing along if you know it.”

Tyler began to strum and you recognized the beginning of one of your favorite camp songs. It didn’t take long for all the counselors - and a few of the returning kids - to join Tyler in singing the lyrics. Those who didn’t know every word would join in when they could, making the chorus sound that much better. You couldn’t help but smile as you sang.

They finished their song and took a bow before leaving the stage, letting one of the supervisors begin talking again. He went over the schedule for the next morning before letting all of you head back to your cabins to get some sleep.

You bumped into Tyler and his cabin as you headed for the opposite side of camp.

“Hey, Vulture!” you called.

“Yeah?”

“Nice job tonight.”

You gave him a thumbs up and he did the same in return, “Thanks!”

One of the little girls next to you gasped, “I get it!”

“Get what?”

“You don’t like DJ Spooky, you like  _ Vulture _ .”

“No, I don’t like Vulture either,” you laughed. Evidently this was a topic that was not going to be dropped anytime soon.

“I know you like one of them.”

“Do not.”

“Do too!”

“Do not!”

“Hey, why don’t we stop bothering Y/C/N about who she likes. It’s none of our business, is it?” Jenna chimed in.

“No, I guess not,” the little girl sighed.

“Thank you.”

You turned to Jenna and mouthed a silent, “Thank you.”

“Alright,” Jenna announced. “Last one to the cabin is a rotten egg!”


	4. Tuesday

You were woken up by a group of girls crowded around the edge of your bed, poking you as many times as they could. Across from you, the other half of the cabin was doing the same to Jenna. This was a planned attack.

“I’m up! I’m up!” Jenna said, sitting up straight and holding her hands out in defeat.

“Can you do our hair?” one of the girls asked.

“Why don’t you get dressed and then we can do hair?”

This seemed to appease the girls, because all of them went running off to their bunks. You and Jenna shared a look as you got out of bed and changed into your clothes for the day. Today’s activity was arts and crafts - which you just so happened to be in charge of - which meant you had the luxury of being in a tent all day.

“You want to do my hair, too?” you joked as you pulled on your t-shirt.

“Only if you wait your turn in line,” she giggled.

You shook your head and began to lace up your shoes. Girls were already beginning to line up at the end of Jenna’s bunk, patiently waiting their turn to get their hair braided. Since you didn’t have the same hair talent that Jenna did, you settled for helping the other girls with their bandanas.

“Are you guys excited to do some art today?” you asked.

“Yes!” one of the girls screamed, making the rest of them join in with their own high-pitched screeches.

“Alright, let’s bring it down a little bit,” Jenna said without missing a beat in the braid she was doing.

You chimed in, “Make sure all of you make your beds and have your bandana on today! We only have twenty minutes until we need to get to breakfast.”

 

“Good morning,” Tyler smiled as he walked up to you.

You finished filling your second bowl of cereal and turned to him, “Good morning, Vulture.”

He leaned closer to you and whispered, “You know you don’t have to call me that when the kids aren’t around.”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, there are a lot of kids around,” you mocked his whisper.

“We could change that.” He ended his sentence with a dramatic wink.

“Hey!” you said, giving him a light jab in the ribs. “No flirting around the kids.”

“Come on, Y/N, it was harmless.”

“Harmless or not, it’s the rules. And my name is Y/C/N.”

Tyler sighed as he poured milk on to his cereal, “Whatever you say,  _ Y/C/N _ .”

“Thank you,” you grinned before walking back to your table. You hated to leave Jenna alone with all the girls for too long.

“What was that all about?” Jenna asked, gesturing towards Tyler with her spoon.

You looked around at all the kids that were eagerly watching you, waiting for your answer, “I was just joking around with Vulture.” Jenna raised an eyebrow at you and when the kids were distracted, you mouthed a quick, “Later,” at her.

She checked her watch, “Ten minutes until the end of breakfast, kiddos. Finish up whatever you want!”

“Then you’re going with purple cabin, ok? Daisy and I have to go work on other things while all of you are at the meeting this morning.”

The girls seemed to get the memo, so you sat back in your chair and finished the rest of your cereal. There was a long day ahead of you.

 

“Who’s next?” you asked, leaning over Jenna’s shoulder so that you could see the schedule.

Your first cabin of the day had already come through and things had gone by swimmingly. All the kids loved the crafts that you had set out and there hadn’t been any major incidents so far. You and Jenna had already been gifted a number of bracelets, and you knew your arms would be near covered by the time you got to lunch.

“Blue cabin,” she said.

“Josh and Brad,” you grinned, happy to hear that some familiar faces would be coming through next. Of course, you knew all the counselors pretty well, but you didn’t have the same friendship with them as you did with Josh or Tyler.

“Hey, hey,” Josh said as he entered the cabin, carrying a kid in each of his arms.

“Hello!” Jenna said.

The rest of the cabin began to file in, finally revealing Brad bringing up the end of the group. He seemed worn out, but you figured it was best not to ask.

“What are we making today?” Josh asked as he took a seat across from you.

“Whatever you feel like!” you grinned. “All of the materials are free to use to make whatever your heart desires.”

“Whatever?” Josh raised an eyebrow at you.

You caught yourself, “Keep it camp appropriate, please, DJ Spooky.”

“Camp appropriate. Got it.”

You continued to work on the bracelet that you had started earlier that morning, occasionally pausing to help one of the boys. They seemed to be enjoying the activity, although paint occasionally ended up all over the table or on their faces.

“Hey, Y/C/N,” Josh said.

“Yeah?” you asked, looking up for a moment.

You were immediately met by a wet paintbrush being tapped to your nose. Josh began to giggle once he saw the look on your face.

“You’ll pay for that, Spooky,” you giggled, wiping away the paint with the back of your hand.

“Will I?”

“I’ll make sure of it.”

About ten minutes later, you were doing a lap around the table to make sure nobody needed help. Josh was distracted by his project, so you took the opportunity to coat your hand in a light layer of paint. You walked over to him and leaned over his shoulder.

“What are you working on there, DJ Spooky?”

“Just an art piece,” he shrugged.

“Let me get a closer look.”

You leaned forward and placed the paint-covered hand on his forearm, leaving a bright yellow handprint. He made a face as you rested your hand on his arm, but didn’t entirely realize what was going on until you pulled away.

“Hey!” he laughed.

You giggled and began to walk a little quicker down the table, still determined to do your job while escaping from Josh. He quickly caught up to you, grabbed your arm - coating it in a thick layer of blue paint - and pulled you towards him. You managed to stop yourself just before you collided straight into his chest.

“How do you expect me to get all that paint off my arm?” you asked, consciously aware of the fact that his hand was still gripped tight around it.

“I think you’ll manage.”

There was still a bit of paint left on your hand, so you reached up and lightly bopped him on the nose, leaving the smallest trace of yellow paint.

“Gotcha,” you grinned.

“Hey, Y/C/N,” Jenna called.

You looked over to her. Her eyebrows was raised and she glanced from you to a kid with his hand raised.

“Sorry, I’m coming!” you said, pulling your arm away from Josh’s grasp.

As you helped the kid, you wiped away most of the thick layer of blue paint that Josh had left. No matter how hard you tried, you just couldn’t seem to completely get rid of the traces of blue.

 

“Last cabin,” you sighed, trying to ignore the way your stomach was rumbling.

“Just another hour, and then we get dinner,” Jenna added.

“Thank goodness, I think I might starve.”

A stream of kids began to enter the tent, looking just about as tired as you felt. They took a seat along the benches, waiting for instructions. Tyler and Mark were the last ones to enter the tent, and Tyler made sure to take a seat right next to you.

“You sure have a lot of bracelets there,” Tyler commented as he sat down.

“What can I say? The kids love me.”

“Watch, I’m going to make you the sickest bracelet that you’ve ever received.”

“Look out, you have a lot of competition,” you laughed, wiggling your arm in his direction.

“Yes, but none of them have my sheer talent.”

You and Jenna shared a look with one another, trying your hardest to conceal your laughter. She quickly explained the rules before setting all the kids free.

“Hey, Daisy,” you said, drawing her attention.

“Yeah?”

“I finished your bracelet.”

She smiled as you handed the little bracelet to her. It was mostly yellow with a little bit of white woven in, just to add a little bit of pattern. You helped her tie it on.

“It goes great with the rest of all my bracelets,” she laughed.

“I would say so.”

“And here’s yours.”

She tied the bracelet she had made for you on with the rest that covered your arm. You smiled and admired it for a moment.

“I love it.”

“I hoped you would.”

Her attention was drawn away by one of the little boys asking for help. Tyler decided that this was the perfect moment to seize your attention.

“What do you think so far?”

You looked over the bracelet that Tyler had just started to make. It was much better than you had expected from him. He had settled for yellow and red, the colors of your two cabins.

“I think it’s looking really good.”

He turned to you and smiled a dorky little grin, as if he hadn’t expected such a nice compliment from you, “You really think so?”

“Yeah! If you actually finish it, I’ll wear it for the rest of the week.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

He reached a hand over and you confidently shook it, secretly hoping that he would get the bracelet done before he had to leave. Before you could say anything else to him, you had to help Mark clean up about three bottles of paint that he had somehow managed to knock over in a single movement.

“Alright, boys, time to get cleaned up!” Jenna announced at the end of your allotted hour.

“Wait, no!” Tyler said.

You looked over to him. He was still bent over the table, furiously working on his bracelet for you.

“Looks like I won’t be wearing your bracelet this year,” you teased.

“Ah, wait!” he said, pointing a finger at you. “You didn’t specify when I had to have the bracelet done by! You just said that if I actually finish it, then you’ll wear it.”

You opened your mouth to protest, but realized that he wasn’t wrong.

“Do you plan on finishing it?”

“Of course I do! We have a deal, Y/C/N,” he grinned.

You shook your head and gave Tyler a little shove, telling him that he had to take his cabin to dinner. Jenna was already starting to clean things up, obviously just as eager as you to get down to the cafeteria for food.

“Just think, all this and we still have more to do after dinner,” Jenna sighed as she packed up some paints.

“But hey, at least we’re not in charge of anything else for the rest of the week. Green cabin is handling the evening activity, all we have to do is participate.”

“You have a point.”

“I know, I always do.”

 

You carefully slid all the bracelets that had been made for you off of your wrists and laid them on top of your bag, with the exception of the one that Jenna had made for you. Part of you was still hoping that Tyler would have that bracelet for you tomorrow.

“Goodnight, ladies,” you called before flipping off the lights.

You were met with a chorus of “Goodnight, Y/C/N”s as you crawled into your bunk and made yourself comfortable. This week was already shaping up to be the best summer camp yet, and it was only Tuesday. There was still so much more to do this week, you weren’t sure that you would be able to handle it all.

Not to mention that you still had to decide if this would be the year you admitted your camp crush.


	5. Wednesday

You were in the middle of taking a long drink of orange juice when someone tapped you on the shoulder, scaring you so bad that you almost spit it all over the table. The girls at the table began to laugh at you, but you simply wiped your mouth with the back of your hand and turned to see who it was.

“Finished it,” Tyler grinned, holding his hand out to you.

Sure enough, in his hand was a red and yellow bracelet. It wasn’t the prettiest bracelet that you had seen, but being a camp counselor had also created a pretty high standard in your mind. All that mattered to you was the fact that Tyler had actually spent time outside of your activity to finish it.

“I love it,” you smiled. “Do you mind?”

You held out your arm and Tyler carefully tied the bracelet around your wrist. His fingers brushed lightly against your skin, sending tingles up your arm.

“That better be on your arm every time I see you until the end of this week,” he said, pointing a finger at you.

“We made a deal!” you said.

“Good, now I have a table of rowdy boys and a less-than-pleased cabin partner to get back to,” he laughed.

“Later, Vulture.”

He lightly traced a hand along your shoulder as he walked away from your table, making you smile like an idiot. The girls were all watching your reaction.

“I told you! Vulture is the one she likes!” one of the girls said.

“No, no, no. You didn’t hear the rumor that I did.”

“And what was that?”

“That yesterday during arts and crafts, her and DJ Spooky chased each other around with paint. He even grabbed her  _ arm _ .”

“Yeah, but did he make her a bracelet?”

“You can still see the blue paint on her arm! Does it matter?”

“Girls,” you cut them off and slid your arm under the table. “I’m right here.”

Jenna chimed in too, “And what did we say about discussing other people’s relationships?”

“Not allowed,” the one who had started it all sighed, slumping back into her seat.

“Exactly, so let’s talk about something else.”

“What’s our activity today?” Poppy asked.

Jenna pulled out her neat little folder and whipped out the weekly schedule, glancing over it quickly.

“This afternoon we have a hike with the leaders of the blue cabin and then purple cabin is in charge of the activity tonight.”

“Blue cabin?” you asked.

“Yes, your favorite,” Jenna laughed, shooting you a look.

“DJ Spooky,” one of the kids gasped.

“Girls, make sure to fill up your water bottles before we leave the cafeteria, ok?” you said. “I don’t want any of you getting dehydrated on the hike today.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” a couple of the girls cheered.

You and Jenna shared a look; both of your eyes were open wide.

“Where did you learn that?” Jenna asked.

“The boys were saying it during the activity last night,” one of the girls answered.

“Yeah, they said it every time DJ Spooky asked them to do something.”

Jenna sighed and shot another look at you, causing you to giggle. You should have known it would only be so long before Josh’s joke caught on.

 

“This right here,” Josh said, pointing to a yellow flower growing on the side of the path, “is called Goatsbeard.”

“Goats don’t have beards!” one of the little girls holding your hand said. “That’s a stupid name.”

“We didn’t come up with it,” Brad said. “We’re just supposed to teach you about it.”

“It’s native to this area,” Josh explained. “Does anyone want to get a closer look?”

Most of the girls stepped forward and examined the plant, poking at the little flowers or drawing pictures of it on their sketchpads. Josh wandered over to where you and Jenna were standing.

“How do you think it’s going so far?” he asked.

“Really well,” you answered. “The girls seem to be enjoying themselves.”

“And what about you?”

“Yeah, I’m having fun,” you shrugged.

“Come on, Y/C/N,” Josh joked, giving you a light elbow in the ribs. “Show some enthusiasm.”

“Woo, plants!” You threw your hands up and moved them around a little bit in some form of happy dance. Jenna looked at you, trying her hardest not to laugh.

“I’m going to go see if Brad needs any help,” Jenna said, giving you a light tap on the shoulder.

“Ok, good luck.”

“Are you actually enjoying yourself?” Josh asked, dropping his over-the-top camp persona for a moment.

“Of course I am! Hiking has always been one of my favorite activities. I’m jealous you’re in charge of it this year.”

“You don’t get tired of walking the same trail over and over again?”

“Not at all, especially if you’re with the right people,” you smiled, bumping him with your arm.

Josh was about to say something in return when two little girls came skipping over to you, each holding a couple brightly colored flowers in their hands.

“DJ Spooky! I got you some flowers,” the first girl said.

“Yeah, and I got you prettier ones,” the second said, stepping in front of her friend.

“Both of these are equally beautiful,” Josh grinned. “Thank you.”

He turned to you and raised his eyebrows. You reached out and took the flowers from his hand, tucking them neatly behind his ear.

“Perfect,” you giggled.

“You’re so pretty!” the girls laughed, temporarily forgetting their feud.

“Am I?” Josh asked, turning to you.

“Gorgeous.”

The girls ran off, whispering excitedly to one another. Josh always seemed to attract the most attention from the little girls, mostly because he was such a good sport about it. He always wound up with a fan club by the end of the week.

Josh leaned a little closer to you so that he could whisper in your ear, “You think this is a good time to mention that I’m allergic to flowers?”

You couldn’t help but crack up at his comment, although you did feel a little bad for putting the plants so close to his face.

“Alright, let’s keep moving! There’s a lot more plants to see,” he announced.

“Aye, aye, captain!” the girls called, falling into line behind Brad and linking up with their buddies.

With Brad and Jenna at the lead, you and Josh were able to hang back behind the group and look out for stragglers. He pointed out a couple spots to you that he claimed were exceptional for stargazing, if you could manage to sneak past the supervisors that roamed the camp late at night.

You were in the middle of telling a story about a kid that had run off during the hike last year when you felt something brush against your hand. Josh was walking pretty close to you, so you figured you had bumped into him on accident. But then it happened again. And again.

This was definitely intentional.

“And then what happened?” Josh asked. You hadn’t even realized you had stopped talking.

“Oh, we found him down in the creek with his shoes off. He had to finish the hike with a counselor for a buddy.”

“Wow,” Josh laughed. “Yeah, nothing like that has happened today. Yet.”

“That’s good.”

“You feeling alright, Y/C/N? Your face is kinda pink.”

“Yeah, it’s just… warm,” you said, waving a hand around.

“Warm, yeah,” Josh laughed.

“Hey, DJ Spooky!” Brad called. “Get your butt up here.”

The kids all started to laugh at Brad’s use of a “bad” word.

“That’s my cue,” Josh said, giving your arm a light tap.

“Have fun,” you smiled, watching as he walked to the front of the group.

Jenna joined you at the back of the group, but you were too distracted by Josh catching your eye every now and again to pay much attention. 

 

You and Jenna were sitting at the edge of the hill, watching as the cabins played a large game of Red Rover. Tyler had just been captured by the other team after unsuccessfully trying to break their chain. Most of the kids - and a few of the rowdier counselors - were yelling excitedly and bouncing around.

“Y/C/N! Daisy! Come join the game!” one of the girls from your cabin called.

“Yes! Please!” another chimed in.

You looked to Jenna, who simply shrugged. Together, you ran down the hill and joined opposite teams, just to keep things fair. Poppy happily offered up a spot next to her in the line.

“Whose turn is it?” you asked.

“Theirs,” Poppy answered plainly.

The other team spent some time deciding who they would call over before Josh led the chant.

“Red Rover, Red Rover, send Y/C/N right over!”

You should have seen that one coming. After a bit of convincing to get Poppy to let go of your hand, you went running over to the other side and attempted to break through their link. Unfortunately for you, Josh was straight across from you, making your task nearly impossible. They eventually called it a fail and you joined the opposing team.

“Nice try,” Josh smiled as he unlinked his hand so that you could take a place next to him.

“You’re just too strong.”

You linked your fingers with Josh’s and tried not to move your hand around too much. After all, this was just a game. Still, it was hard to ignore the way he would give your hand a light squeeze every now and again.

The game went on for another twenty minutes until your team captured all the other team’s members and emerged victorious. Josh went around, giving everyone high fives and congratulating them on the win. Eventually, he made his way over to you and pulled you into a sweaty hug.

“You may not have been on our team to begin with, but you were essential to our win,” he laughed.

“Thanks, Spooky,” you said, giving him a couple pats on the back.

You were about to start up a conversation with him when a couple girls from your cabin came running over, demanding your attention. Instead, you settled for a wave and followed them across the field.

 

You stripped off your sweaty t-shirt from the day and pulled on your nice pajama shirt. All of the girls were sitting around the cabin, enjoying their downtime before lights out. Most of them were playing card games or telling stories and you were happy to finally have some time to rest after the long day.

“How much time until lights out?” you asked Jenna.

“About ten minutes.”

“Good. I’m ready to pass out right now.”

“Me too,” she laughed. “It’s been a long day.”

“I know, and we’re just over halfway through the week.”

Poppy came running over to your bunk, practically throwing herself on top of you. You managed to catch her and avoid her completely landing on your stomach, but you still ended up with an elbow straight to the gut.

“How about we make a new rule about not jumping on counselors?” you wheezed.

“But that was so fun!” she squealed.

“Too bad. What do you need, Poppy?”

“I need help settling a debate.”

“What’s the debate?”

“Amy said that Vulture is her boyfriend, but obviously he’s mine!”

“Is that so?” you asked, sharing a look with Jenna.

“Yes! And she’s saying the she called dibs on him first, but I called dibs on the first day!”

“Well, have either of you actually talked to Vulture about him being your boyfriend?”

“Um… no.”

“Then I don’t think he’s anybody’s boyfriend.”

Poppy leaned really close to you and cupped a hand around your ear before dramatically whispering, “Except for yours.”

“Vulture isn’t my boyfriend, but if he was, then you shouldn’t be debating about him in the first place,” you said, tickling her stomach.

Poppy squealed and went running back to her small group of friends. You looked to Jenna, who was shaking her head and smiling.

“Girls, make sure all your things are put away nicely! Lights out is in seven minutes.”

“Ok, Daisy!” a few of them called back.

Four days down, three to go.


	6. Thursday

“Georgia, no!” Jenna called, watching as one of the little girls smacked her spoon straight into her bowl, sending cereal and milk alike splattering all over the table.

“I’ll get napkins,” you sighed, already standing up from your chair.

Josh and Tyler were both standing at the other end of the cafeteria, grabbing themselves some more breakfast. You walked up next to them and began to grab a handful of napkins to clean up the mess that had been made.

“Good morning, Y/C/N,” Josh smiled.

“Y/C/N!” Tyler said cheerily, spinning around to face you. “How has your morning been?”

“Take a look,” you answered, gesturing to where Jenna was having a stern talk with Georgia.

“Ooh, yikes,” Tyler winced before taking a sip of the coffee he had just finished making.

“Yeah. As much as I’d love to stay and talk, that needs to be attended to.”

“Good luck,” Josh called after you.

“See you at the activity today!” Tyler added.

With Georgia’s help, you were able to get the mess cleaned up in a matter of minutes. Jenna went with her to go grab some more cereal while you sat with the rest of the girls, making sure that no more messes were made before the end of breakfast.

“What is the activity today, Y/C/N?” one of the little girls asked.

“Music,” you smiled.

“What cabin is in charge?”

“Red.”

“Vulture!” Poppy cheered, happily turning to her friend.

“Yes, Vulture will be there,” you laughed.

“Hello, yellow cabin!” Mark said as you led the girls into the tent.

“Hi, Bear!” the girls answered.

All of you took a seat on the grass, with the exception of Poppy who insisted that she sit in your lap for the duration of the activity. You tried to catch Tyler’s eye, but he was too busy tuning his ukulele to notice.

“Y/C/N,” Poppy whispered in your ear.

“Yes?” you asked, matching her less-than-quiet whisper.

“That’s Vulture!”

“Yes, it is.”

Instead of an answer, Poppy began to giggle. This seemed to draw Tyler’s attention, because he looked to you and smiled.

“Alright, who’s ready to make some music?” he asked. All the girls immediately threw their hands into the air and began to bounce in place. “Repeat after me!”

You sang with the rest of the girls, giggling as you repeated whatever crazy lyrics Tyler managed to come up with. Everyone was having a great time.

Eventually, Tyler and Mark allowed the girls to try out a variety of instruments. You and Jenna stood off to the side and watched as the girls made ungodly sounds on Tyler’s ukulele or helped Mark play the guitar. Tyler kept catching your eye the entire time and making faces as the girls produced particularly… interesting sounds.

“Y/C/N, do you want to try my ukulele?” Tyler called.

“Me?”

“Yes, you!”

You turned to Jenna, who nodded encouragingly. With a shrug of your shoulders, you turned back to Tyler.

“Sure.”

You walked over to where Tyler was standing with a couple of the girls. He passed you the ukulele and helped you to hold it the “perfect” way. You weren’t entirely convinced that was a thing, but Tyler was a musician so you decided not to question it.

“How do I play?” you giggled now that you had the instrument in your arms.

“I’ll teach you some chords.”

Tyler tried, and failed, to get you to play a number of different chords. It seemed that no matter how hard you tried, your fingers were just never quite in the right spot. He eventually got fed up and decided to take matters into his own hands, literally.

“I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this,” he laughed.

“Come to what?”

Tyler reached forward and gently grabbed your hand that was on the neck of the ukulele. Slowly, he placed your fingers in the correct spot. You were trying to pay attention, but it was hard to focus when he was holding your hand so delicately.

“Now try strumming,” he said, pulling his hand away from yours.

You gave the ukulele a confident strum, and for the first time all afternoon you managed to make a sound that actually mimicked the music Tyler had been playing earlier. He smiled and held a hand out, prompting you to give him a high five.

“That sounded great.”

“Thanks, Vulture.”

“I want to try!” Poppy said, already reaching for the ukulele in your arms.

You handed the ukulele back to Tyler. He bent low to the ground and began to help Poppy play, so you wandered back over to where Jenna was standing.

“That was a pretty flirty interaction you and Vulture just had,” she grinned.

“Shh!” you said, giving her shoulder a light shove. “The kids might hear you and get mad that I’m stealing their boyfriend.”

“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”

 

“What are we doing now?” one of the girls asked as you gathered outside the cafeteria after dinner.

“We’re going to go play a big game of Sharks and Minnows with the other cabins.”

“Are you going to play, Y/C/N?” another girl asked.

“Probably!”

You were distracted by Josh arriving with his cabin. He was parading one of the boys around on his shoulders and another boy was hanging onto his arm.

“What are you doing there, Spooky?” you laughed.

“I was just trying to get all of them outside, but they insisted that I carry them around,” he sighed. “So now this is happening.”

“Looks fun.”

“Cabins! Let’s head out towards the field!”

“Aye, aye, captain!” one of the boys yelled.

You followed the crowd out towards the large field that stood at the edge of the camp. The leaders of the orange cabin - who were in charge of tonight’s activity - went over the rules for Sharks and Minnows before selecting who would be the first sharks. Tyler just so happened to be one of these selected few.

The rest of you lined up at the “start line” and got ready to run. Poppy insisted on holding your hand for the first round, claiming that she wanted to make sure that you didn’t get tagged.

“On your marks! Get set! Go!” one of the orange cabin leaders called.

Poppy practically dragged you across the field. You were surprised by how fast she was able to move her tiny legs, and before you knew it, you were standing on the far side of the field. A number of kids had been tagged and were now sitting in the grass, ready to tag unsuspecting runners.

Tyler was standing in the middle of the field with his hands on his hips. He caught your eye and pointed at you, mouthing a quiet, “You better watch your back.” You simply stared at him with wide eyes, wondering why you of all people were being singled out. There were plenty of other targets that he could be going after.

“You’re on your own this time,” Poppy said, dropping your hand mere seconds before you had to start running again.

You took off across the field, but Tyler made a bee line for you as soon as you were out of the safe zone. In an attempt to avoid him, you jumped to the side. Unfortunately, your athletic skills were subpar at best and you immediately tripped over your own foot and started to topple towards the ground. Tyler managed to catch you at the last second, preventing you from face planting straight into the grass.

With Tyler’s help, you managed to get yourself back to a standing position. Your ankle felt a little weird, but it wasn’t in pain which you took as a good sign. Tyler was looking at you with concern.

“Are you ok?” he asked, still resting one hand on your waist.

“I’m ok,” you answered, shaking out your ankle a bit. “Thanks for catching me.”

“No problem, but it still counts as tagging you.”

You rolled your eyes and took a seat in the grass. Tyler shot you a wink before running over to join his fellow sharks for the beginning of the next round.

 

“I don’t want to go to bed!” Georgia whined, dragging her feet through the grass.

“You don’t have to go to bed yet, but we do need to go back to the cabin. It’s getting too dark for us to stay out,” Jenna calmly tried to explain to her.

“But we’re at camp! We’re supposed to be allowed to stay out late!”

“Yes, but you have to keep your energy up for the big capture the flag game tomorrow.”

“Plus, there’s the bonfire,” you chimed in. “If you don’t get good sleep tonight, then you’re going to fall asleep early tomorrow!”

Georgia groaned, but didn’t try to argue with you anymore.

“Y/C/N!” someone called.

You turned towards the sound of the noise. Tyler was standing under a tree, beckoning you over. His cabin was nowhere in sight.

“I’ll meet you at the cabin, Daisy,” you said, already jogging towards him.

“I have something for you,” he grinned.

“What?”

Tyler reached into his pocket and pulled out a packet of Starburst. You smiled and threw a hand to your forehead.

“Of course! How could I forget our tradition?”

Ever since you and Tyler first became counselors, you had a tradition of meeting up on Thursday night and sharing candy. Since there wasn’t any at camp, Tyler always had to sneak it in his bag and keep it hidden from the kids throughout the week. It was a weird tradition, but neither of you were willing to give it up.

“Here,” he said, breaking open the wrapper and handing a candy to you.

“Thanks.”

You took a seat on the ground and Tyler was quick to join you. He sat just close enough that his knee barely brushed against yours.

“How has your week been, you know, overall?” he asked as he popped a red Starburst into his mouth.

“Pretty good. I’m just trying not to think about the fact that we might not be back next year.”

“Yeah, me too. I’m making the most of what time we have.”

You nodded and unwrapped a pink Starburst, “Hard to believe there’s only two days left, huh?”

“Yeah, this week has flown by.”

“It’s been really fun.”

Tyler met your eyes, “Yeah, it has.”

You smiled as you crumpled up your wrapper and tossed it at him. He ducked out of the way at the last second.

“Hey!” he laughed.

“You deserve that for getting me out in Sharks and Minnows.”

“I guess you just need to run faster next time.”

“You need to run faster next time,” you mocked him.

Tyler reached out and lightly shoved your shoulder. You threw a hand back to keep yourself from falling back in the dirt, making him crack up. Obviously preventing yourself from falling over was not one of your strong suits.

“Do you think we’re still going to talk even after we leave camp?” Tyler asked.

“Of course we are.”

“Ok, good,” he smiled. “I’m glad.”

You and Tyler sat under the tree talking until the very last Starbursts were gone. The sun was almost completely down now, so Tyler walked you back to your cabin before heading back to his. Jenna was very happy to see you once you returned.

“There you are!” she said. “They’re going insane.”

You took a moment to assess the situation in the cabin. The girls had decided to play a game of “The Floor is Lava”, which meant that the ground was covered in shirts and pillows alike. Most of them were also screaming loudly, but they stopped when they realized you had returned.

“Y/C/N!” one of them yelled.

“How was hanging out with  _ Vulture _ ?” another chimed in.

“Did you two kiss?”

You sighed, “No, we were just hanging out because we’re friends.”

“Aren’t we your friends? Why didn’t you come hang out with us?”

“We get to hang out now!” you smiled.

“Not if you stay in the lava for much longer! You’re going to burn!” one of the girls screeched.

You dramatically hopped over to your bunk, happy that the girls had quickly become distracted by their game rather than your time with Tyler. Even though it was harmless, you were still worried about one of them slipping up around a supervisor.

“Did you have a nice time?” Jenna asked.

“Yes,” you smiled. “Did you?”

She shot you a look, “Funny.”

You changed out of your day clothes into your pajamas, all while being watched carefully by the girls to make sure you didn’t accidentally fall in the “lava” while grabbing your change of clothes. It was hard to believe in two short days all of you would be on a bus back home.


	7. Friday

“Everyone have your bandanas on?” you asked, looking around at all the girls.

“Aye, aye, captain!” one of them called.

“Ok, everyone get your hands in! On the count of three, we’ll do a ‘Go Cheetahs!’, ok?”

The girls nodded and put their hands in the middle. You nodded to Jenna, who began the countdown.

“Three, two, one…”

“Go Cheetahs!” you all cried in unison, throwing your hands into the air.

“Destroy blue team!” one of the girls added with a scream.

“But in a fun, sportsmanlike way!” Jenna said, giving the girl a pat on the back.

You all dispersed across your side of the field. Josh and Brad were still huddled with the boys in their cabin, probably deciding on a strategy. On the sidelines, the rest of the cabins were patiently waiting for the start of the game or refueling with one of the many snacks that the supervisors had laid out for all of you. Capture the flag was easily one of the biggest events of the week.

“Wrap it up, blue team!” the referee called.

“We’re ready!” Josh said as the rest of his team scattered.

“Ready, yellow team?”

“Ready!” you called.

“Ready, blue team?”

“Ready!” Josh answered before locking eyes with you.

“And…”

The whistle blew and people took off in every direction. You had been tasked with leading offense, so you started to move towards the middle of the field, scanning for any openings that would lead you to the opposing team’s flag.

It wasn’t long before you were presented with your first opportunity to make a run for the flag. While most of the boys were distracted, you made a sprint down the field. By some miracle, you managed to snag the flag and start your way back down the field. People on the sidelines were cheering you on. Your fellow teammates were watching you anxiously. The middle mark was just a few yards in front of you.

“Not so fast!”

You were stopped by someone tagging your shoulder. Of course, given your complete lack of balance, you lost your footing and once again found yourself falling towards the ground. Thankfully, the stranger managed to wrap an arm around your waist and pull you on top of them, making your landing a lot less painful. Of course, this also meant that you were right on top of…

“DJ Spooky,” you muttered, glaring down at the brown-eyed boy beneath you.

“You didn’t think you were going to win that easily, did you?” he grinned.

“A girl can dream.”

Josh’s arm was still wrapped tightly around your waist, and for a moment you forgot that you were in the middle of an intense game of capture the flag. Your teammates were still yelling wildly about the flag that was balled up in your hand.

“Y/C/N?”

“Huh?”

“Are you going to get up?”

“Right, sorry.”

You used your free hand to push yourself back up to a standing position. Josh did the same and brushed the dirt off the back of his shirt.

“I believe you have something of mine?”

You reluctantly handed over the blue flag. Josh grinned and gave you a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

“Nice try.”

You rolled your eyes and jogged back over to your side of the field before one of his other teammates managed to tag you and send you to the jail.

After ten more minutes of running around the field and attempting to sneak the flag back to your side, the blue team emerged victorious. The girls on your team sulked a bit, but were quickly cheered up by offers of fruit juice and delicious snacks. You all took a seat on the sidelines to watch the rest of the tournament.

The blue team eventually emerged champions of the tournament, and Josh wasted no time in gloating. He immediately hoisted up a couple of the boys from his team and paraded them around the field as they chanted a variety of creative rhymes. You had to admit, they had come up with a pretty solid strategy.

Josh eventually caught up to you as you were making your way back to the cafeteria for dinner.

“Hey, Y/C/N,” he smiled as he fell into step with you.

“Hey, DJ Spooky. Congrats on the win.”

“Thanks, I can’t wait to rub this one in Vulture’s face.”

“I’m sure he’ll love that.”

“Yeah,” he laughed. “Anyway, there’s actually something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

“What is that?”

“Well, you know how we have free time after the bonfire tonight?”

“Sure.”

“I was just wondering if you wanted to go stargazing with me?” he shrugged.

“I’m not really sure what I’m going to do yet, but I’ll keep your offer in mind,” you smiled.

“Great. Now if you excuse me, I better go find Brad before he gets mad at me for being gone too long.”

“Later.”

 

The bonfire burned bright in front of your eyes, illuminating the faces of all the camp-goers that sat around it. Jenna was next to you, holding one of the girls from your cabin in her lap. Tyler and Josh had just finished performing a camp song for all of you, and it was getting harder to ignore the fact that camp was coming to an end.

Thankfully, the night was far from over.

Tyler walked over and took a seat next to you. By some miracle, Poppy was currently distracted by a game of blob tag that had started in the nearby field, so she didn’t have any comments to make about him coming to sit next to you. He rested his ukulele in his lap and turned to you.

“Hey, Y/C/N.”

“Hi,” you smiled. “Nice job on your performance.”

“You liked it?”

“Was that not obvious?” you laughed.

“Guess not.”

You let silence fill the air between you. Sometimes it was just nice to be around people whose company you enjoyed without talking about anything. Of course, silence never seemed to last long at camp.

“I actually have a question for you.”

It wasn’t the first time you had heard that today.

“What’s up?”

“Well, um, would you want to go down to the lake during our free time tonight? I haven’t had a chance to go and it would be cool if you came with me.”

“I’ll consider it,” you said, thinking back to Josh’s offer. “I haven’t decided what I want to do tonight yet.”

“Alright, that’s fine.”

You nodded and turned back to the fire. Tyler shifted a little so that he could lean back on his hands, which conveniently involved resting his arm against yours. Unfortunately, you were hardly able to enjoy the physical contact before your attention was being demanded by one of the girls.

“Y/C/N! Come play blob tag!”

Knowing that refusing the demand would only result in a lecture from one of the supervisors, you turned to Tyler with a frown. “I’m sorry.”

“No worries,” he said, waving a hand at you. “Just come find me later if you want to take me up on my offer.”

“Will do.”

 

You waved to all the kids as they followed the supervisors off towards the other side of camp. The bonfire had finally ended and now they were being taken on a night hike - one of the many traditions of the summer camp. Since the supervisors were watching all the kids, it meant that you and the rest of the counselors finally had some free time.

“Finally,” Jenna sighed, showing the first sign of annoyance all week. “I’ve been needing this break since Tuesday.”

“Me too,” you laughed.

“Well, I think I’m going to go find Mark and Brad. I’ve hardly had a chance to talk to them all week and there’s lots of catching up to do.”

“You do that. I’ve got my own plans,” you grinned.

“Yeah, with your camp crush,” Jenna teased, giving you a light jab in the ribs.

“Hey! You said to make the most of our last year here, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

“I’m so proud. Now go find him before you run out of time!”

You took a deep breath and headed towards where he had told you to meet him. Your heart was pounding in your chest, but you were excited.

 

What will you choose? Stargazing with Josh or The Lake with Tyler?


	8. Stargazing with Josh

You found Josh sitting on one of the benches in the amphitheater, holding a blanket on his lap. He looked up once he heard you coming and stood up to meet you.

“Glad to see you took me up on my offer,” he grinned.

“Where are we off to?”

“Follow me.”

Josh led you out to a little hill on the edge of camp where there was a clear view of the sky. You were staring up at the stars before Josh even had a chance to lay out the blanket for the two of you. It was like you could see every last star in the sky.

“Here, come sit down,” Josh said, lightly tapping at your leg.

“Sorry, it’s just so pretty out here.”

“Yeah, the view is really nice.”

You turned to look at Josh, only to realize that he was staring straight at you.

Oh,  _ you _ were the view.

“Stop,” you mumbled as you took a seat next to him on the blanket.

“Come on, I’ve had to hold that in all week!” he laughed.

You laid back on the blanket so that you didn’t have to crane your neck so much to look up at the sky. Next to you, Josh was doing the same, although his attention seemed more focused on you than it did on the sky.

“That must have been hard for you, DJ Spooky.”

“You know you can call me Josh now.”

“Sorry, habit,” you giggled.

Josh sighed and moved his arm up so that it was resting behind his head. You took a moment to look at him, admiring the way his features looked in the moonlight.

“Do you know any constellations?” you asked.

“Are you sure you want to ask that question?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because space is like… my jam. Once I start talking about it, I might not stop.”

“I don’t mind.”

You spent the next twenty minutes listening to Josh talk about all the constellations above you. He seemed to know everything about them, including the names of the stars within them. It was nice to hear him talk about something so passionately.

“Alright, I’ll shut up now,” he laughed.

“I liked listening to you talk.”

Josh turned to look at you, so you did the same.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

His mouth curled up into a small smile and moments later you felt his hand lightly brush up against yours. You simply lifted your hand slightly, allowing him to slip his hand beneath yours and intertwine your fingers.

“I always hated that you lived so far from Columbus. I wanted to see you more often, but because of the distance camp was the only time I was able to,” he said quietly.

“You know, starting in the fall I’ll be going to school just outside of downtown Columbus. The commute won’t be nearly as bad.”

“Just outside Columbus, huh? I think I can manage that.”

“I would hope so, now that we’ve got this going on,” you said, waving your linked hands in the air.

Josh turned so that he was now resting on his elbows, allowing him to see you a little better.

“And what is this, exactly?”

“Um,” you stammered. It felt like your face was on fire. “A camp crush?”

He leaned a little closer to you, smirking as he did so, “Just a camp crush?”

“Well, I wasn’t sure if you-” You stopped talking and smiled once you realized what Josh was trying to do. “Just kiss me, idiot.”

“Gladly.”

Josh used his free hand to pull you into a kiss. You grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer, letting all the tension and shared looks from the week melt away into the kiss. Josh’s hand started to move down to your hip, but you were interrupted by something rustling in the bushes.

“Ew!”

Josh immediately pulled away, cutting off any form of physical contact you two had been sharing. Three boys were standing just inside the tree line, staring directly at you.

“DJ Spooky has cooties!” one of them screamed.

You and Josh shared a look. If one of the supervisors found out the two of you had been making out in the forest, there would be hell to pay.

“I’ve got this,” Josh said, standing up and going over to reason with the boys. You scooped up the blanket and followed after him, just in case he needed help.

Josh had dropped down to one knee and was talking with the boys. You didn’t hear much of the conversation, although you were pretty sure you caught something along the lines of Josh “giving you CPR”. It was hard to bite back your laughter at his over-the-top excuse, but the kids seemed to be buying it.

“That should keep them off our case,” he laughed, wrapping an arm around you and pulling you into his side.

“Was CPR really the best you could come up with?”

“Hey, I was under a lot of pressure!”

You giggled and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He smiled at the gesture and together the two of you began to slowly make your way back to camp, looking out for any other kids who might spot your signs of affection.

It was definitely one way to end the week.


	9. The Lake with Tyler

Tyler was hanging out just outside the cafeteria, chatting with one of the other counselors. He stopped his conversation once he saw you and came jogging over to where you were standing.

“Here to go to the lake with me?” he grinned.

“You bet.”

“Great, let’s not waste any time.”

The walk to the lake was short, but it was a lot colder than you had expected it to be. Tyler had the sense to grab a sweatshirt before going on your little adventure, but you hadn’t had as much foresight.

“Woah, look at the reflection in the lake,” Tyler grinned, pointing out over the water.

You crossed your arms a little tighter and nodded, “It’s pretty.”

“You alright, Y/N?”

“Cold,” you muttered.

“Here, take my sweatshirt,” he said, already starting to take it off.

You wanted to argue with him, but your teeth were beginning to chatter so you decided it wasn’t worth it. Besides, any excuse to wear Tyler’s sweatshirt was a good excuse.

“Thanks,” you smiled, pulling it on over your t-shirt. “Now what?”

“Want to swing?”

You looked over to the wooden swing that was hanging halfway over the water. It looked questionable at best, but what was an adventure without a little danger?

“Sure!”

You got yourself situated on the rickety board that was serving as the seat of the swing and Tyler gave you a light push. It wasn’t long before you were soaring out over the water with wind rushing through your hair. Tyler continued to push you, making you fly higher and higher.

The branch overhead started to creak more and more as you swung back and forth. You brushed it off as nothing to worry about at first, but it continued to grow louder. Flying out into the cold lake didn’t exactly sound like an ideal way to end your night.

“Ty! Ty! Ty! Ty! Ty! Stop the swing!” you called frantically.

“What? What’s going on?”

He stopped the swing and you immediately fell into his arms - maybe that was a bit dramatic, but your heart  _ was _ beating pretty fast.

“I thought the branch was going to break,” you giggled.

Tyler wrapped an arm around your waist and kept you close to his chest, “You worry a lot, you know that?”

“Maybe.”

“Here, let’s go sit out on the dock.”

Tyler grabbed your hand and led you out on the dock, which just about as questionable as the swing was, but you weren’t about to let that stop you from spending quality time with him. You watched as he kicked off his shoes and stuck his feet into the glassy water.

“Ty!” you whispered. “Isn’t that freezing?”

He laughed, “I’ll go numb eventually.”

You opened your mouth to say something, but stopped yourself. Instead, you sat down next to him and kicked off your own shoes before sticking your feet into the water. It was freezing, but if Tyler was going to have his feet in the water, then you were too.

The cold water made you start to shiver again, so you pulled your sweatshirt down over your hands to try and conserve as much heat as you could. Tyler noticed you shivering and held out an arm.

“Are you accepting the offer or not?” he laughed when you didn’t move.

“Yes, I just have to muster up enough energy to actually move.”

“Come on, dork.”

You shifted closer to him so that he could wrap his arm around you. Wanting to steal as much body heat from him as you could, you wrapped your arm around his torso and leaned a little further into him. He was trying to hide it, but you could see the slightest hint of a smile on his face.

You wanted to stay there forever, just enjoying the quiet of the lake with Tyler. Your feet were so numb that you couldn’t tell if you were actually able to move your toes or not, but your torso was warm.

“It’s cold,” Tyler whispered.

“You know, I had actually noticed that,” you giggled.

“Did you know kissing is a good way to stay warm?”

“Is that your way of asking to kiss me?”

He bit his lip, “It was poorly executed, but yes.”

“Come here, dork.”

You turned his face towards you and leaned up to kiss him. He used his other hand to grab your hip and pull you even closer to him, pressing your body to his. You probably should have gotten flustered at the contact, but you were too concerned about body heat to care.

When you pulled away from him, you noticed there was a blue tinge to his lips.

“We should probably get back to camp before we freeze to death,” you smiled, lightly brushing your thumb against his chin.

“I think that’s probably a good idea.”

Both of you pulled your shoes on. Your feet still felt numb, but at least having socks on would help. Tyler grabbed your hand, and together the two of you ran back to camp.


	10. Saturday

“I don’t want to leave!” Poppy whined. Tears were already beginning to pool in her eyes and you hadn’t even finished packing up the cabin yet.

“But think of all the fun stories you’ll get to tell when you get back home!” you said, brushing some of her hair back with your fingers.

“I don’t want to  _ tell _ fun stories.” She threw her hands up in exasperation. “I want to  _ live _ them.”

You turned to Jenna, who was already shaking her head as she helped another little girl roll up her sleeping bag. Your entire morning had been spent listening to kids complaining about having to go home. It’s not like you didn’t feel the same - leaving the camp was always sad - but you got the point after the first three times they said it.

“There’s always next year!”

“Will you be here next year?”

“Probably!” you lied, figuring it was best not to add any more fuel to the fire.

This seemed to please her and she went back to neatly folding up all of her shirts. You took a deep breath and continued to walk through the bunks, helping the girls with whatever they needed. All of you were supposed to be up to the top of the hill in twenty minutes and it seemed like there were still a million things to do.

“Keep moving, girls!” Jenna said. “We don’t have much time.”

“That’s the problem!” one of them said.

It was going to be a long twenty minutes.

By some miracle, you managed to get everything done and still make it to the top of the hill on time. The girls tried to slow things down by walking slowly or “dropping” things, but you and Jenna found ways to keep them moving. There was a reason you called yourselves the dream team.

“Can I go say goodbye to Vulture?” Poppy asked.

“Sure, but make it quick.”

You watched as Poppy ran over to where Tyler was standing with his cabin. He bent down to give Poppy a hug, and when she came running back over she had the biggest smile on her face.

“Did you see that, Y/C/N? He hugged me!”

“I did see,” you laughed, handing her bag back to her.

“Y/C/N!” another little girl asked. “Are you finally going to tell us who you like?”

“Yeah! I want to know if it’s Vulture or DJ Spooky!”

You bent down a little bit, “It’s…”

The girls all began to jump around, anticipating what you were about to say.

“None of your business!” you laughed, much to the dismay of the girls around you.

“One day we’ll find out,” one of the girls grumbled.

You ruffled her hair, “I’m sure you will.”

The buses rounded the corner at the end of the road and all of the kids began to boo. You had to admit, it was pretty funny to watch all of the supervisors look around in disappointment. 

“Alright, kiddos! We need to get you properly loaded onto these buses, so please listen for your name and wait with that supervisor.”

You and Jenna gave each of the kids a hug before they wandered off to wait by the bus. Once all of your kids had left to stand with a supervisor, Jenna linked arms with you.

“I can’t believe it’s over,” she said as the kids started to get on the buses.

“It went by so fast.”

Eventually, all the kids were seated and the buses began to pull away. Most of the kids stuck their arms out the window and waved to you as they drove away. A few of them even stuck their heads out the window and tried to yell to their favorite counselors, but they were quickly chastised.

“So,” Jenna said, turning to you. “Are you going to do it this year?”

“Do what?”

“Admit your camp crush! He’s standing right over there.”

“Oh,” you said, unable to conceal your smile. “I think he already knows.”

Jenna’s eyes narrowed, “I missed something, didn’t I?”

“Maybe,” you said, biting down on your bottom lip.

“Good thing we have the entire bus ride home to talk about it.”

Your girl talk was interrupted by Tyler and Josh walking over to where you were standing. Both of them were smiling, but they still looked exhausted.

“Thank goodness I can finally stop calling you DJ Spooky,” Jenna laughed, giving Josh a light shove in the arm.

“Hey, DJ Spooky is a great camp name!”

“Josh has way less syllables though.”

“Fair enough.”

“I’m glad to see you kept our deal,” Tyler said, pointing to your wrist.

You looked down at your wrist. After wearing the two bracelets for most of the week, you had basically forgotten they were there.

“Hey, a deal is a deal!”

“Still, it was brave of you to wear that terribly made bracelet,” he laughed.

“I’ve seen worse.”

“There’s the other buses,” Josh said, looking past you towards the end of the road.

“Already?” you asked, turning to look.

Sure enough, two more buses were making their way down the dirt road. 

“I can’t believe this is it,” Jenna said.

“I know,” you added, turning back to the boys. “I’ve been going here since I was a kid and now it’s all over.”

“It’s not  _ all _ over,” Josh said. “We still have one another, even if the camp is gone.”

“Exactly. You’re not about to forget all the shenanigans you got into last night, are you, Y/N?”

You pursed your lips and looked to the ground, completely avoiding eye contact with anyone. Jenna eventually elbowed you in the ribs and raised her eyebrows.

“Later,” you muttered softly, still completely aware of how hard you were blushing.

“Alright, I trust all of you to get onto the right bus,” the supervisor said. “But in case you aren’t sure, come see me.”

“I guess this is it,” Josh said.

“This is it,” Jenna repeated.

Josh held out his arms and you immediately rushed into his arms, holding him tight. Your eyes were beginning to sting a little, but you were determined not to cry in front of the boys.

“Take care of yourself, Y/N,” he smiled, holding you at arm’s length.

“You too, Josh. Don’t accidentally smack yourself in the face with a drumstick or something.”

“No promises.”

Tyler and Josh traded places. You threw your arms around Tyler and hugged him just as tight as you had Josh.

“And you better get that album to me as soon as it’s done, ok?”

“I will. That’s a promise.”

You stepped away from the boys and picked up your duffle bag. People were already beginning to get on the bus and you didn’t want to miss out on a good seat.

“We’ll be in touch, ok?” Josh said.

“You better!” Jenna said.

“Have a safe trip, you two,” Tyler added.

“You two, too,” you said, laughing a bit at your word choice.

You and Jenna got onto the bus, immediately finding two seats across from one another. Jenna grabbed a sweatshirt from her backpack and used it as a makeshift pillow against the bus seat.

“I believe you have a story to tell me,” she grinned.

“I will soon,” you smiled in return. “Let’s get on the road first.”

You turned and looked out over the camp for the final time. This week had definitely given you a lot to think about and you weren’t even sure where to begin processing everything that had happened. Even though you were sad about finishing your time as a counselor, this week had definitely been one for the books.

“What are you thinking about, Y/N?” Jenna asked.

You turned back to look at her and laughed, “Everything.”

“Yeah, that’s how I feel too.”

There was still lots of summer left before you started school in the fall and now you were even more excited about the adventures that were sure to happen. Hopefully more than one of them would involve Tyler and Josh. Who knew what would happen from here on out.

But one thing was still for certain: this summer camp had been the best one yet.


End file.
